The Key to My Heart
by Shipposfriend
Summary: Inuyasha is dead, killed in the final battle. Depressed and alone Kagome moves to America with Shippou. She promised to never love again. Could a hanyou boy hold the key to unlock her heart?
1. Chapter 1

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I don't own Inuyasha. (He's on my birthday list!)

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Prologue 

"Inuyasha?" Kagome Higurashi called. "Can you help me, this thing is really heavy?" Kagome heaved the large yellow backpack through the old well that connected her time five hundred years in the future to the past she was currently in. "Please!"

"What am I your slave?" grumbled Inuyasha as he lifted up the bag with ease. "You never let me carry this, why now?"

"Because it's full of your ramen, dog-boy!" Kagome teased. "Remember you said, Don't come back without five hundred packs of ramen. I can't fit that many in my backpack!"

" What? You didn't bring me all my ramen? I should drop this book bag thingamagig where I stand," Inuyasha said grinning.

'_Inuyashas in a good mood, eh Kagome.'_

_' Awww man, I thought you died.'_

_'Your common sense can't die'_

_' I still don't get the sense part.'_

_' I hate you.'_

_' And vice versa.'_

"Kagome? Kagome? Earth to Kagome?" Sango called.

"Huh, oh sorry Sango, I was figh- er thinking," Kagome apologized. " Did you need something?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if I could borrow some body wash, I'm out, and I wanted to go to the hot springs. Do you mind? Kagome?"

"Huh? Oh no, that's fine!" Kagome said.

"Well thanks," Sango said looking at Kagome strangely.

"Yeah, sure."

_' You freaked her out!'_

_' What do you want?'_

_'To remind you to at least pretend you're listening.'_

_'Whatever!'_

"Hey Inuyasha," Kagome yelled across the campsite. " We only need the seven Shikon shards Naraku has to complete the jewel!"

" That's good!" Inuyasha snarled. "Because here he comes."

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The sun was slowly sinking over the horizon painting the skies in pinks, oranges, and purples. A slow breeze lifted up Kagome's hair around her. She stood at attention her bow at ready. Sango hoisted hiraikotsu on her shoulder and Miroku was ready to unleash his wind tunnel. Inuyasha drew Tetsugia ready to kill. Kagome gasped as the completely dark night covered them, there was no moon.

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha, his hair was black. "Inuyasha," Kagome wailed, "your human! What are we going to do? He's gonna crush us!"

"Feh," Inuyasha yelled. "I got it wench, just stay away."

"Hey mutt face!" a familiar voice called. It was Kouga. " You plan on fighting like that?"

"That is not smart," said a cold voice. Sesshomaru walked, rather glided into the clearing. "You were ever the fool, Inuyasha."

"Hello, Inuyasha," a soft voice said.

"Kikyo," Kagome whispered.

They were all there Kikyo, Kouga, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Kirara, and Miroku. They stood ready, weapons ready. Soon laughter could be heard. It was Naraku. This was no puppet, Kagura and Kanna followed. Kohaku was no where to be seen.

" So you're all here, and who is this human? Inuyasha? A mere human! Oh this is to good!"

The battle began. Sango and Miroku took on Kagura. Kouga lunged at Kanna. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha ran for Naraku, while Kagome and Kikyo shot purified arrows where needed.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled launching the giant boomerang at Kagura. She dodged it and pulled fan out of her hair. Before she could attack Miroku had thrown a sacred scroll at her. It hit her in the eye.

"You will die for that," she hissed at Miroku. He grinned. Before she could attack Kirara jumped at her. Snarling she rip and tore at her flesh. With a horrifying crack Kagura's neck was snapped. With a scream and a blinding light Kagura was turned into a pile of ash. Sango and Miroku ran over to help Kouga with Kanna, who was reflecting all his attacks.

Meanwhile Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were lunging at Naraku who was laughing evilly. He shot a tentacle out to pierce Inuyasha. Sesshomaru saw that and dived in front of it. The Great Lord of the Western lands screamed as the tentacle pierced his stomach. However it didn't stop there, it went on to pierce Inuyasha. In his heart.

Naraku laughed. "The Great Inuyasha finally slain. And the Great Sesshomaru so close to death" Naraku wrenched the tentacle from their bodies. Kikyo ran to Inuyasha, while Sesshomaru's small charge ran to his side.

Kagome stared in fury at Naraku. "You killed him, you bastard you will die." Everyone stared at Kagome's uncommon use of profanity. She never cursed. With super human strength Kagome pulled back the bow as far as it would go.

"Into this arrow I put my anger," Kagome yelled, the arrow glowed pink. "My sorrow," The arrow glowed blue. "My pain," The arrow glowed a light orange. "And my LOVE FOR INUYASHA!" The arrow shot forward in a flash of brilliant purple light, as soon as it Naraku it exploded, reducing him to a pile of blue ash.

Kagome dropped her bow and ran over to Inuyasha. She leaned over him, worry etched in her face. "Inuyasha? Are you okay?"

"Kagome move," Kikyo demanded.

" But I want to help-"

" MOVE!" Kagome scooted out of the way.

" No, Kikyo, I-I want her to stay with me," Inuyasha said. Kikyo looked shocked and hurt, she ran into the forest.

" Kagome, I'm not going to make it," Inuyasha whispered. "I'm human."

"NO! NO, your not going to DIE! Your not!" Kagome screamed. "You can't! You promised to protect me!"

" Kagome listen to me," Inuyasha said sternly. " Death is part of life and I am going to die. Now I-I need to tell you something, ummm, I, ummm, uh, see, I-I lov-v-e y-y-you."

Kagome looked into those amber eyes once so full of hate and now so full of love and she cried. " I love you too," she whispered.

She whispered to him told him she would save him even though deep in her heart he was going to die. And that is how Inuyasha died, lying in Kagome's arms being rocked like a small child. Her leaning over him smiling and singing, his friends gathered around him telling him how much they loved him. Even Kouga who told him that he never really tried to kill him and Sesshomaru who crawled over to apologize for being a horrible brother and to not worry, he would be joining him soon, most likely in hell.

" Save him, Kagome," Inuyasha whispered. "It's not to late for him. Promise me that's all I ask. And tell Shippou I'm sorry for thumping him. I love you all." And with these parting words, Inuyasha our famous and beloved hanyou died."

Kagome cried and cried and cried. As she purified the jewel and healed Sesshomaru she cried. As she wished for Kohaku to come back to Sango, she cried. As she said her good byes to all her friends, she cried. As she asked Shippou if he wanted to go with her to the future, she cried. Finally as they landed at the bottom of the well, she looked up at the shrine roof, and stopped crying.

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That night as Kagome laid in her bed looking down at the sleeping Shippou she promised herself and Inuyasha that she would never love another again. And with that thought in mind Kagome fell into a fitful sleep.

**OK End prologue, It is June 21, but I'm not sure when this will be posted. **

**R&R –Shippo : D**


	2. Dare to Hope

I don't own Inuyasha.

Chapter1 

"Mommy… Mommy," Shippou whispered. He leaned over and peered into Kagome's face anxiously. "Mommy!"

"Mmmm?" Kagome moaned. "What is it?"

"I'm hungry."

"All right I'm up." Kagome pushed back her covers and hopped out of bed. She picked up Shippou and made her way down stairs. Once

in the kitchen she made her way to the ramen cabinet. She stopped suddenly, holding back tears. "Shippo, do you want cereal or waffles?"

"Waffles!" yelled Shippou. He bounced up and down in his chair.

Kagome stifled back a yawn as she pulled the waffles out of the freezer. With a sigh she stuck them in the toaster.

_'I miss him.'_

_' Hello, Inuyasha.'_

_'Why are you calling me that?'_

_'I'm naming you'_

_' Your naming me? You can't name your common sense.'_

_'Well I just did, so there.'_

_'Fine, I just came to tell you that you can't just mope around here for the rest of your life.'_

_'How-'_

_' I'm in your head with all your other thoughts, remember.'_

Kagome sighed. _'Oh yeah.'_

_'I think you should get out of here, away from this place. It only holds memories, I mean your old enough to move out right?'_

_' I don't know…'_

_'Aww, come on. You can take Shippo with you, go to school, have a whole new beginning.'_

_'You know what, you're right, I will move, I'm going to move to America!'_

_' Yeah, we'll move to- wait America, I was thinking more like somewhere in _Japan!_' _ But it was too late, Kagome's mind was made

up. She ran to tell her mother about her plan.

"Kagome, what about my waffles?" Shippou yelled after her.

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Kagome's mother listened in silence as her daughter explained her plan. " Kagome, are you sure about this?" she asked nervously. "I mean this is a big decision!"

"Oh yes, Momma, I'm sure, absolutely, positively sure!"

"Why?"

Kagome's smile vanished. "I… I need to get away, from this, all of it. I can't stay here, there's to many memories. And if I moved to Tokyo, there would still be the history, all about, well, the past. I don't think I could stand to be reminded of him everyday! "

"I know but-"

" Momma, please I need you to support me!" Kagome said in a pleading tone. "Please."

Her mother sighed. She knew someday that her daughter was going to leave, but she didn't know it was going to be so soon, or so far away. "Alright, but you need to plan this more carefully, where are you going to live, are you going to college, are you going to be able to get a job? And what about Shippou?"

Kagome bit her lip, " I think… I think that he should stay with you. He'll get on better here." She sighed, "I don't know."

" We'll figure it out, sweetie," her mother soothed. "Know, I'll call the airport assuming you'll want to go as soon as possible." Kagome nodded. Her mother got on the phone. " You should go tell Shippou," she whispered, her hand over the phone.

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Kagome stepped in the hot shower, letting the water pound on her, soothing her nerves, thinking of ways to stall. She massaged the shampoo into her scalp, rinsed, conditioned, washed, shaved, and thinking of nothing else she could do, she stepped out of the shower.

She dried her self off and opened her closet. She pulled on a purple T-shirt and a pair of old blue jeans. She combed out the tangles in her hair and with a sigh she made her way down stairs.

" Shippou?" she called. Kagome found him munching on a huge stack of waffles. "Hey Shippou! I need to tell you something."

" Mmm?"

" I- I decided to move to America," Kagome said.

" We're going to America?" yelled Shippou that's great!"

" Actually," Kagome ventured, "you're staying here. I'm sorry, but I think you'll be better off here."

Shippou sniffed as tears filled his eyes. "But I want to stay with you, please! I'll be really good, I won't annoy you, and I won't eat… much! Please, don't leave me, I'll do anything!"

Kagome looked at that poor, little pathetic, kitsune and broke down." Alright, but it's going to be hard at first."

" That's okay I don't mind, really!" Shippou yelled excitedly.

Mrs. Higurashi walked into the kitchen. She smiled at Shippou sadly, "I'm so-"

" He's coming with me!" Kagome said quickly. She looked at her Mom, " We'll be okay."

" Alright, you're plane leaves next week, Wednesday and seeing as how it's Sunday, I think you should pack."

Kagome gasped, she ran up the stairs in a rush. "Not that fast," her mother yelled behind her.

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"Let's go everybody, in the car, Kagome's plane leaves in two hours!" Leah, Kagome's mother, called. Everyone piled into the car, Grandpa, Souta, Kagome, and Shippou piled into the minivan. Shippou had disguised himself as a four-year-old boy. With ragged brown hair and freckles dusted across the nose, he looked adorable. He was wearing a pair of tiny blue jeans and a green GAP hoodie.

Kagome and her family rushed into the airport, getting stuck in traffic for an hour made them a late. "Kagome, as long as security takes these days, you better go!" Kagome nodded, trying to hold back tears.

" I'll miss you Mom," she whispered. Kagome leaned over and gave her a tight hug. Moving to her brother she gave him a big hug and a peck on the cheek. "Hey, you take care of Mom, you hear? She needs you?" Souta nodded wiping the tears from his eyes. "Jii- chan, try to stay out of trouble, okay?" She kissed him on the cheek quickly.

Making a face he wiped it off. "Yuck! And since when do I get in trouble?" Kagome giggled, sometimes he was worse than Souta.

" You should go, Kagome," her Mom said gently. "Security _does _take along time!" With one last hug for everyone, Kagome and Shippou headed for security on the upper level. She turned around and waved for one last good-bye.

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Kagome held Shippou in her lap and attempted to sooth him, he had been crying since they took off. She smiled apologetically at the chubby man beside her. With his, small mouth, red face, and glaring pointy black eyes, he didn't help the situation.

Kagome sighed in relief as the captain announced the arrival to Raleigh Durham was in ten short minutes. "Shippou, did you hear that?" Kagome asked gently as she wiped his tear stained face. "We're gonna be there in ten minutes!"

" Is that a long time?" Shippou whimpered. "I want to get off!"

" That's not long at all, sweetie. Look out the window, there's downtown!"

" I see it!" Shippou said excitedly. "Look at that tall building, I want to live on the top floor!"

Kagome laughed, "We'll see, oh look we're landing!" Peering out of the window like an excited child, she was scared and joyful all at the same time.

'_We're here, Inuyasha!'_

' _My name is not Inuyasha1 Stop calling me that!'_

'_Whatever.'_

' _We shouldn't be here, we should be moving our boxes into our new, quaint, little apartment! Not some tiny shack, thing in a place we've never even been too!'_

Kagome ignored him.

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Kagome heaved the last box into the bed of the rental truck. She picked up Shippou and buckled him into his car seat. With a sigh she got in the car and pulled out the small road map. She lived in C8 on South Wilmington ST. It was a small apartment with one bedroom and a den/kitchen area. The bathroom was connected to the bedroom. As she drove she tried to find a good radio station. One blasted loud hip hop, G 105, that wouldn't work, 94.7, nope. She finally found a classic rock station, 106.1 RDU. She sang along to a Beatles song.

Kagome pulled up to the apartment. It was a dull gray color, with black shutters. She unbuckled Shippou and held his hand as they walked inside and up the stairs. Kagome took a deep breath and unlocked the door, hesitantly she pushed it open. She was greeted with walls with a gray similar to the outside of the building. A small stove and sink stood side by side, there was a space for a refrigerator. The tile ended and became a what used to be a white carpet. There was a moldy looking couch in the corner and an under watered plant. She walked into the bedroom which was a nasty yellow color with a white hardwood floor with about an inch of dust. The bathroom had a tiny shower and sink and no toilet.

" Kagome, I have to go to the bathroom," Shippou whined. "Really bad!" Kagome's eyes widened, this was just her luck. She picked up Shippou and quickly ran out in the hallway. She frantically looked around, she ran and knocked on the nearest door. It opened slowly, Kagome gasped at the sight, nearly dropping Shippou.

A scowling face looked down at her, angry amber eyes staring at her blue-grey ones. Silver, white locks fell to his buttocks and cute doggy ears were perched on top of his head. He wore blue jeans and a plain red T- shirt. A strand of prayer beads hung from his neck.

" Yo- you have doggy ears," stuttered Kagome. She was still staring, not daring to blink as if she did he would disappear. "Inuyasha," she whispered, " is that you?"

The boy scowled. "Dammit," he muttered. "Those are fake," he told her. "It's a headband, for Halloween."

" What's Halloween?" Kagome asked. "Tha- that's not the point, the point is those are real ears and I can prove it!" She reached up and yanked on one of them.

" Oi, bitch, what was that for?"

"Osuwari!" Kagome yelled on instinct. The boys face hit the floor and Kagome burst into tears. "Inuyasha? Is it really you?" She reached down and pulled him up, hesitantly she touched his face gently, not daring to believe and trying not to hope.

" I am _not _Inuyasha!" the boy snarled. " He however was my uncle, but he's **_DEAD_**! But I never even met him so it doesn't matter."

"I know he's dead," Kagome snapped. She glared at him. "I was there," she whispered. " And I held him as he died. I loved him. Now, may Shippou use the restroom, before he goes in his pants?" She was crying silently, trying to hide behind Shippou.

For some reason this bothered the boy. He didn't like to see her cry. "Don't cry," he said almost gently. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, now that I think about you must be Kagome, father speaks highly of you."

Only then did Kagome realize who this boy's father must be. " Your father is Sesshomaru? The Sesshomaru? The Sesshomaru that hates humans? No way!"

The boy nodded. "Come in and I'll explain." He led them in to a small apartment much like hers. Kagome quickly darted into the bathroom with Shippou. After he was done they went to sit on the couch, waiting for the boy to explain.

"Want some water or something?" he asked as he tossed Kagome a water bottle. "Good, here you go. Nice catch."

"Thanks," Kagome smiled. "Now I think you should explain, don't you?"

" My name is Aisu, I am a hanyou, my mother human, my father demon."

" Who _is your mother_?"

"Rin Taisho."

"Rin?"

"Yep. Anyway my mother was sixteen when she realized her feelings for my father, so they mated and I was the product 425 years later. My mother wasn't quite sure about kids. So father owns this huge computer company that he wants me to inherit that I want nothing to do with."

"If your father is rich why are you living here of all places? I mean you could be living… somewhere else, anywhere else than this hole!"

"I like to take care of myself, of course every once in a while I borrow a bit of money."

"What do you do for a living?" Kagome asked. "And why is Sesshomaru in America?"

"Father was defeated by this powerful lizard demon so he moved here, where he defeated the reigning youkai here and bought this giant computer company. And like I said he wants me to take over but I like my job."

"What do you do?" Kagome repeated.

Aisu blushed, "I'm a- a- a veterinarian," he blurted out. "I like to work with animals."

" That's neat!" Kagome exclaimed. "I love animals, dogs are my favorite!" She blushed as she realized what she had just said. "Anyway I have to go unpack all those boxes and then I guess I should get some furniture and a toilet would be nice. Then I have got to find a job, I need money. And then I'll have to see if the bank will give me a loan so I can pay for tuition." She paused to take a breath. "I want to go to NC State, to become a vet. Coincidence huh?"

"Yeah, it is. Come on I'll help you unpack." Aisu said.

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"That's it." Kagome brushed her hands off. She checked her watch. "It's five o clock and I'm starving."

"Come on I'll take you out," Aisu offered. "You can look for furniture while we're out."

"Thanks!" Kagome said appreciatively. "Let me change real quick, I'm a mess." She ran into the bathroom and rinsed off with the washcloth she had dug out of a box. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a light pink tank top. She grimaced as she pulled the brush through her hair and dashed on some lip gloss. "OK I'm ready," she smiled as she darted out of the bathroom. "Oh, wait let me grab my purse!" She dashed back into the apartment. "Ok I'm good. Let's go!"

"You like Italian?" Aisu asked. " There's this place about ten minute's from here, I'll drive."

"Ooooh sketti!" Shippou cried. "I love sketti!" He thought back on the time Kagome first gave him sketti, he was at her house and they were out of ramen, so she gave them sketti, it was really good. "Sketti is Italian isn't it? That's what you said, right Kagome?"

Kagome laughed. "Yes, Shippou that's Italian."

They headed downstairs to the parking lot. "Here we go," Aisu pointed to a sporty red convertible. " This is it, hop in!"

" Oh yeah I need a car," Kagome sighed. " Man, this sucks."

"Come on we'll worry about it later, eh," Aisu said.

"Yeah," Kagome sighed. "Later, oh yeah, let me grab Shippou's car seat from the truck. She ran over and unlocked the truck, she wrestled with the seat for a moment, before yanking it out of the backseat. Aisu reached over and took it from her, he buckled it in the back seat and lifted Shippou in. He hopped in beside Kagome and cranked the car. He pulled out of the parking lot and sped off.

Kagome laughed as they raced down the road. Aisu couldn't help but notice how her ebony hair flew out behind her and her shell pink lips curved up in a smile. Her dark brown eyes sparkled with a warmth, he had never seen before.

Kagome's scream brought him back to reality. He jerked his head back, focusing his attention on the road, just in time to keep from running the red light. "Sorry," Aisu said sheepishly. "I, was, uh looking somewhere else."

Kagome laughed. "I kind of noticed when you almost t-boned that car!"

" Mommy can drive better than that!" Shippou called from the backseat. "Are we almost there, I'm hungry?"

"Who are you?" Aisu asked. " I mean I know you're name is Shippou, but is Kagome really your Mommy?"

" Of course she is silly! Why wouldn't she be?"

" I'm not his, um, what's that word, biological? mother. He joined us early on in our search for the Shikon no Tama, I took him under my wing and after a while he began to call me Mommy. His real parents were killed by Naraku and he wanted to avenge them." Kagome explained quickly at the puzzled look on Aisu's face.

"How does he know English?" Aisu asked.

"I taught him while we were traveling, there was nothing else to do." Kagome told him.

They had arrived at the restaurant, Kagome unbuckled Shippou and lifted from the car. They entered a small, cozy restaurant, the air filled smells of spaghetti and pizza. Aisu led them to a table," Menu or buffet?"

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Kagome browsed through the sheets and comforters. She picked up a set of midnight blue sheets for Shippou and tossed them into the cart filled with household supplies, silverware, glasses, plates, washcloths, towels, among other things. Sighing she added a deep red comforter to go with the sheets, thinking about the cost of all this stuff.

Aisu pointed to a queen sized bed with a white headboard. "How about this," he asked. "not very expensive."

Kagome looked at the tag eye's widening. "This is on sale?" she asked. "We'll it's about six hundred dollars cheaper than any of the others, so I guess this is the one." She sighed heavily. "That's it from this store. I still need a toilet and a chest of drawers, oh and a bed for Shippou."

"Why don't I go pay for you and you can go to the restroom and freshen up or something, all right?" Aisu asked. He pried the buggy handle from her fingers. "Go ahead I got it."

"I f your sure," Kagome said. She walked wearily to the bathroom. "Oh wait, here's the money!" She pulled a few bills out of a white envelope. " This all the money I brought to America with me, it may look like a lot, but I'm coming to find it's not!" As she turned away she didn't notice Aisu slip the bills in his pocket.

He walked over to the check out counter. He grimaced at the sight of a young women behind the counter. "Hello," she said slyly. "Is that your little boy?" she asked nodding to Shippou. "He's an adorable little thing. Hey there," she cooed. Shippou wrinkled his nose.

" Can I please just check out?" Aisu asked irritably. He began to slam the items on the counter. The young women looked startled she began to scan the items quickly. Aisu pulled out his credit card and paid. He stuffed the receipt in his pocket when he heard Kagome's voice.

"Hey, Aisu, thanks," she smiled at him.

"No problem," he answered. "Let's go to the hardware store. OK?" He lifted the bags easily and walked out the door.

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OK first chapter is done. R&R please! Second chapter coming soon.


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